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Abstract:
In this paper we provide two building blocks for an analysis of international policy coordination: (1) a survey of models of policy coordination, and (2) an account of experience with policy coordination among the G-7 countries and within Europe since the breakdown of the Bretton Woods System. Using these building blocks, we investigate the correspondence between the models and experience and attempt to draw lessons for both the modelers and the practitioners. We find that the correspondence is close enough that the models help in analyzing several instances of actual policy coordination, but that the correspondence could be even closer. As for lessons for modelers, we suggest that they devote more attention to the analysis of information exchange, a key feature of practical policy coordination; to the coordination of different types of policies; to the ramifications of political divisions within countries; and to the implications of market irrationality and speculative bubbles. As for lessons for policy makers, we suggest that they give more consideration to the choice of their ultimate objectives, in particular to whether the current account should always be close to balance; to achieving better internal policies; and to the greater use of fiscal policy as a stabilization tool.
Full paper (364 KB PDF)
Keywords
international policy coordination, cooperation, information exchange, monetary policy, fiscal policy, G-7, European economic and monetary union
As Published Elsewhere
Meyer, Laurence H., Brian M. Doyle, Joseph E. Gagnon, and Dale W. Henderson (2002), "International Coordination of Macroeconomic Policies: Still Alive in the New Millennium?" in Christopher Gilbert and David Vines (editors), "The IMF and International Financial Architecture," Centre of Economic Policy and Research and Cambridge University Press, forthcoming.
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Last update: April 8, 2002
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